Swords and Roses
by Shadow Rider-F17
Summary: AU. The land of Ooo is ripped apart in the war between three of the last, most powerful humans known as Finn the Blood King, Betty the Wizard Queen and Zane the Savage Lord. In these dark times a glimmer of hope shines bright as a girl named Rose fights alongside her father Jake, as well as old and new faces in order to return the days of peace to the land. Rated T for, well,blood.
1. Chapter 1

**'** **The land of Ooo. Formerly known as earth, after the Great Mushroom War, humanity came to near extinction. With the human race all but gone and the radiation and mystical components released to the world from the nuclear bombs' explosions, a new world rose from the ashes of the old one, a land where everything was possible except for logic, a land of magic, chaos and color. In this rainbow-flavored land, peace survived for a little more than a millennium, but the fragments and shadows of the forgotten world came back to haunt us all.**

 **'** **First, it was Betty. A human woman that traveled in time to the future in an attempt to reunite with her lover Simon, only to lose him briefly after that when she saved him at the cost of bringing back his alter ego, known as the Ice King. She later went all over the land, trying to find a cure for Simon, only to stumble across Magic Man; A crazy, dangerous man with even crazier, dangerous magic powers. By absorbing his powers, she became one of the most powerful beings in the world, but power comes with a prize- She became insane and took over wizard kingdom, enslaving the wizards and turning them into her own personal horsemen of the apocalypse, bringing chaos and destruction wherever they go.**

 **'** **Then, there was Finn Mertens. A young man who was previously thought to be the last human on earth, until the discovery of his father, Simon, Zein and the arrival of Betty. This human boy was ironically known before as the hero of Ooo, saving the world, universe AND multiverse many times from destruction. He was the champion of everyone, a truly respectable man who had a great life and even found love in the arms of a princess. That was, until tragedy stroke… It all began way back, when he was still 16; his girlfriend, Flame Princess (now known as Flame Queen) broke up with him, the rise of new heroes left him in the dark as everyone moved to cheer them up and forgot about him, his father turned out to be a disgusting excuse of a living being who abandoned him at any chance he had and the more he grew, the more he realized the pain of not having a true family. But the toughest strike to him was to his heart as his wife was killed by Betty during a mission. Mad with rage, Finn used the power of the grass sword imprinted into his being, as well as his inner power and the demonic blood of the deceased Hunson Abadeer to rise in power and build himself an army of human/plant hybrids to conquer Ooo', now going by the name of 'The Blood King'.**

 **'** **And last, but not least, there is Zane. A monster hunter well known in the lower part of the globe. His achievements were high and there was no one who could pose a challenge to him, his battle prowess and his telekinetic powers, as well as his brutal fighting style. Slowly people amassed under him and he became even more powerful after absorbing a celestial crystal gem. He too built himself an army and began to go crazy everywhere, until he stumbled upon Finn and Betty, the only two people strong enough to actually defeat him.**

 **'** **The three immediately became mortal enemies, and the war between their three kingdoms turned this colorful world into a sad, dark place with no hope in the line of sight. But hope hasn't been lost yet, for there is one person still capable of defeating these three titans. A heroine with unimaginable power, for she is-**

"Dad, what are you doing?" Asked a girl as she stepped inside an old tree house and found someone who looked like a yellow dog with a beard and fedora and was staring deeply into a dusty book "Oh, nothing. So, how was your day, Rose?" asked the dog, better known as Jake, to his daughter "Well, I found a wild Pork-Berus, so I would say it went pretty well". Rose was a teenage girl with pale blue skin and mid-back length hair, red like… Well, roses. Her eyes were blue like the sky. She wore an unzipped pink hoodie with folded sleeves over a white T-shirt, red pants and black military boots. On her back was a blue backpack, a weird boar with three heads tied to it and a weird shaped white sword with a blue gem on it. "But seriously now, what were you doing?" asked Rose as she pointed to the book, "Oh, you know, reminiscing on old memories and stuff" he said as he closed the book with a thud and stretched over to a dust-filled bookshelf to place it amongst other books "Seriously now, you're getting old" teased him Rose "Well, I'm still as elastic as back in the day and- Ouch!" said Jake, stretching his hand in all directions before his muscles twitched. "Anyway, did you stumble into any soldiers or bandits on your way?" he asked with a worried look "Yeah, but I kicked their butts!" said Rose triumphantly before getting hit on the back of her head by a big yellow hand.

"You have to be careful! If anyone of those three crazy humans caught you…" said Jake with pain from the image formed in his head "Relax! You're worrying too much. I can handle my own and I'm also very sneaky, like a ninja" said Rose posing like a ninja "Ugh, fine, but remember! If you see one of the three kings or their generals…"

"-Turns back and run as fast as I can, I know, you told me like a thousand times already" said Rose in a mocking tone "*sigh*, just… Be careful next time, okay?"

"Fine…"

"Good. Now let's see what you brought, cuz' I'm starving!" after a satisfying meal of cooked Pork-berus, Jake and Rose went to sleep… Well, Jake went to sleep. Rose sat on top of the huge, old tree house, staring into the horizon. Wrecks as far as the eye can see, a melting ice monument that seemed like a castle and the smoking ruins of a kingdom Rose still couldn't believe was once a beautiful kingdom made of candy.

"You look troubled" said the voice of a young boy behind her. As she turned around she saw a teenage boy around her age, wearing rags to cover his body and face "Oh, hey Jack" she said as the boy proceeded to sit next to her. Despite always seeing her father Jake carrying the sword like the most precious thing to him in the world (You know, except for her), he gave it to Rose for her 10th birthday. Ever since she was 13, Rose's sword always came to life and spoke with her when she was alone. According to Jake, the sword was something he found in an ancient temple, but looking at his face, she knew he was lying. The first time she nearly fainted by this, but now it was a normal thing for her, although she still questioned her own sanity. Since the sword wouldn't tell her his name, she called him Jack "Thinking about your parents?" he asked her. "Yeah… I'm no dumb girl; it's obvious that I'm not his daughter, so why hide it? I'm 16, he should've told me something by now, right?"

"Believe it or not, I've known Jake for quite a while now, just not this Jake" said Jack the sword "What do you mean?" asked him Rose "… That doesn't matter. I'm sure he has a reason not to tell you this stuff. Why don't you ask him?"

"I tried, but every time I mentioned family in front of him, he paled and looked like he was going to die on the spot and knowing my late step brothers, I couldn't do that to him, so I changed the subject every time. I'm pathetic, am I?" Jack then placed his hands on the back of his head and put his left leg on his right knee as he laid down on the floor "You're not pathetic; you just care for that person as if he was your real father" He then whispered under his breath "(…And sometimes, a fake father is better than the real one…)" and with that, he turned into mist, which then shaped back into his sword form. Rose lifted the sword and looked into the blue gem on its hilt "Thank you" she said with a smile. No response came back, but she had a feeling her words reached Jack loud and clear.

The morning after that, Rose and Jake were eating cereal and milk. It was rather silent and peaceful in the middle of the war-torn land. Rose didn't want to break this precious moment of peace, but she owed it to herself to confront Jake about her parents "Dad?" she eventually asked "Yes, sweetie?" replied Jake "… Who were my real parents?" Jake spitted out milk and cereal in a huge stream and began choking down as Rose went over to him and helped him relieve "Wha-What do you mean? I'M your dad!" he said. "Dad, don't play jokes with me. You're a DOG, I'm some sort of humanoid life form, there is literally nothing similar between us"

"So? There are many parents and sons who don't come out similar at all. It's genetics and junk" Said Jake, sweating. "Why won't you tell me who my parents are!?" yelled Rose "like I said, I'm your dad" said Jake, his head heating up by the moment and slowly breaking by the pressure and nerves "Just tell me already!" yelled Rose "I TOLD YOU I'M YOUR DAD, YOU IDIOT!" snapped Jake, his hand stretching as he smashed the food table down. Rose couldn't take this and ran out of the house, crying "Rose, wait!" yelled Jake, trying to stop her but then collapsing to the ground and spitting blood "Ugh… Not n-" was all he could say before his vision blackened and he fainted.

* * *

Rose wandered and wandered, until she reached the ruins of the Candy Kingdom. Walking across the broken pavement, she looked in pain at the homeless and rotting candy people on the streets. She then felt something grab her hoodie. As she turned around, she saw a peppermint orphan girl with tired eyes pointing towards her mouth, desperate for food. Rose kneeled next to her and gave her apple slices, patting on her head before sending her off to the other orphans with a forced smile. 'That could've been you, you know?' echoed Jack's voice in her head.

"Shut up"

Suddenly, Rose heard a scream. As she ran in the direction of the scream, she saw a bunch of plant/human soldiers surrounding an old cupcake citizen. Rose hid behind a demolished wall and listened to the occurring "So you thought you could escape labor camp, huh Mr. Cupcake?" said one of the soldiers towards Mr. Cupcake "Please, I beg you to spare me… I have a wife and four muffin children, please let me go!" begged Mr. Cupcake as he planted his teary face on the ground "Silence!" said one of the soldiers as he kicked Mr. Cupcake in the head, knocking him over. Mr. Cupcake wept as he held his head in pain "Under direct order of Baron Chloro von Phil, every subject trying to escape their duty will be executed immediately". Rose couldn't take any more of this cruelty at this point. Taking out her sword, she rushed in and punched the soldier, sending him flying and crashing into a tooth-breaking candy house. She felt incredible as the sword somehow doubled all of her physical and neurological attributes "A rebel! Take her out!" yelled one of the soldiers and they all charged in her direction in what seemed to her like the slowest attack ever. Avoiding their wooden spears and leaf blades with ease, Rose slashed the chest of one of the soldiers, broke the ribcage of another with a lethal knee and decapitated another one. Frightened, the last soldier standing ran away.

"Are you okay?" asked Rose as she helped Mr. Cupcake up "Glob bless you, young girl. How can I ever repay you for saving this poor life of mine?" he asked "You can start by visiting your family and helping them. Not many get to see their parents, you know?" Nodding in agreement, Mr. Cupcake ran off into the streets and Rose did the same as the sounds of rushing footsteps and a war horn were held. As the soldier that survived came back with backup, Rose already disappeared into a dark alley. "Hah, suckers" she said, sheathing her sword with relief, only for a potato sack to be put on her and she got kidnapped. After a couple of minutes of struggling in the dark, the sack was eventually lifted from her face and she found herself inside what seemed like some sort of military headquarters. She was standing in the middle of a mixed crowd of candy people, wizards, demons, elementals and pretty much every other race she knew about and some she didn't in the land of Ooo. They all had a grey bandana with a golden Celtic Trinity Knot imprinted on it, wrapped somewhere around their bodies "Wha… Where am I? What is this place?" asked Rose.

"Welcome to the resistance" said a tall and buff man as he approached her. He looked almost human, except for the two bumps in his head that resembled horns. He had chocolate brown hair and light skin. He wore military clothes combined with pieces of old armor with the Celtic Trinity Knot burned into the skin of his exposed left arm. He had a pistol on his belt, held a machine gun and had a sword the size of Rose chained to its black sheath with red chains "Who are you, and why am I here? Depending on your answer, I won't show you mercy!" said Rose reaching to her sword, only to have a bunch of resistance members to point their weapons at her. The tall man, which seemed to be the leader of the resistance, signaled them to lower their weapons "My name doesn't matter now; you can just call me chief"

"He's just embarrassed because his name is Sweet Pig Tru-" began to say a resistance member before he got literally planted into the ground by his stereo-sized fist. "As I was saying, you can call me chief"

"Uh… Sure..!.. Chief"

"The reason we called you here, is because we saw how you defended old Mr. Cupcake back there and defeated a troop of blood soldiers with seemingly no effort whatsoever. Your appearance is like a signal to us and, well… On the bottom line, we want you to join us"

"Uh…" said Rose, trying to swallow and process the way-too-quick turn of events that just unfolded in front of her.

* * *

 **And that's it. Been a while since I wrote an AT fanfic… If you have any thoughts or questions write them down below and I'll do my best to answer them in the next chapter, which hopefully I will finish next week.**


	2. Chapter 2

"So… Can you explain this in a little bit more detail? Because I'm confused as hell right now" asked Rose as she finally got a hold of herself and was now walking alongside Sweet P., or as he prefers to be called "Chief", across his resistance's base. "Sure. As you may know by now, war has been raging across Ooo for over 13 years now"

"Um, yeah? I've been sort of living this reality as far as I can remember?" said Rose sarcastically "Well, yes. As you may already know, the war right now is happening between three powerful human rulers, known as Finn the Blood King, Betty the Wizard Queen and Zane, the Savage Lord. Their war and means of war have ravaged this realm and others, destroying most of the main kingdoms ruling over Ooo in the process. The people have suffered for over a decade during the power struggle between them. There were countless casualties during that time as well, my family being one of them…" said Chief with futile struggles to hide the pain in his voice. "For 5 years, I've been fighting for the people, building up a resistance with citizens, mercenaries and retired soldiers- Every person willing to fight we were able to find. During these tough years I've recruited and lost many people to the cause" as he was saying that, they passed near a huge brick wall with countless names engraved in it. Rose's eyes shrunk with pain as she saw the mourning nymph mother of a recently fallen member screaming in agony and shedding tears over the address on it, saying 'Sgt. Shelby'

"Doesn't it all seem pointless to you? I mean, not to be a jerk but… Watching you guys and hearing how long you've been fighting, you don't exactly look like you have the upper hand here" said Rose, gesturing with her arm to her surroundings "And what exactly do I have to do with all this?"

"There's a simple answer for all of that: The prophecy"

"What, you mean like one of those childish 'The Chosen One' prophecies?" joked Rose, but stopped laughing when she saw the seriousness in his face. Chief continued: "It's true that our forces pale in front of the three kings' armies, but we never gave hope, for one of our late founders with the ability of foresight told us about a prophecy, a prophecy in which a young girl, hoisting a blade as white as the dove of peace, shall defeat the three tyrants and once again liberate the land and start a new golden age. And after seeing you swing that sword of yours with a bright light in your eyes and soul, I'm sure-no, I'm CONVINCED, that you're the girl" he said eventually stopping in front of a steel door "I know it's a tough decision, but will you join us?"

"Yeah, sure." She simply said. "Wha- Are you serious? I mean, don't get me wrong, but it's quite a decision and a dangerous one at that-" Rose raised her hand to stop him "Look, I'm no dumb person. I know how dangerous your work is and I've never believed in prophecies or in myself being any special. But seeing all this and living in this cruel world as a war orphan myself made want to help the people and families here, so if you're saying there's a slight chance of me being able to kick those jerks' asses and saving the world, then I'm saying: Let's do this!" Chief let out an old man's laughter as he saw how smart and cunning she was "I guess you're right" he said when opening the door, leading the way into a dark bunker with a hanging lightbulb emitting light over a skillfully drawn map of the Candy Kingdom.

"Chief, is that the girl?" asked a gumball robot, which looked at Rose with a suspicious look and looked so tense and focused she thought he could probably reach his sword and slice her in half in less than a second "Yes she is. At ease, Rattleballs" commanded chief as Rattleballs calmed down, yet the way he looked at Rose made her uneasy "So how are we going to defeat the three kings anyway?" asked Rose, trying to distract herself from Rattleballs "Whoa! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, their forces overpower ours by three thousand to one" said Chief "Then how the hell are we going to defeat them if we're so ridiculously outnumbered in comparison?" she asked, starting to think they were all crazy "We still have a chance to defeat them, but we can't attack them straight ahead. We must first grow in numbers and deal them small but deadly hits in their vital points by reclaiming kingdoms within their territory. Only then we'll be able to strike back" explained a girl wearing whit tops and strips with pink ribbons across her body. Her cat eyes stared at her in a form that made the hairs in the back of her neck stand stiff "Stacey, would you PLEASE stop scaring our new recruits to death?"

"Can you blame me? It's hard to keep this amazing body in shape with just the flesh of soldiers" replied Stacey jokingly. At least Rose hoped that she was joking. "So how are we going to do whatever she said?" asked Rose, starting to regret joining this creepy group of people "That's the harder part; In order to liberate the Candy Kingdom, we have to reboot the kingdom's defense and offense systems, like the sleeping gumball guardians, as well as reinforce them and re-establish a military stronghold at the castle. For that, we're going to need the greatest mind in Ooo, as well as the one and only ruler of the Candy Kingdom: Princess Bubblegum"

"Hey, my dad told me about her! But isn't she supposed to be dead by now? You know, for a couple of reasons?"

"Indeed, but according to our resources, she made some sort of deal with death that made her completely immortal and now she's being held in a prison under her own castle. Breaking her out and killing the stationed ruler Baron Chloro von Phil are vital parts in this whole operation" said Chief "Ok then, let's get down to business" suggested Rose "Not so fast. You shouldn't underestimate the guards and heavy security systems that she's being held under. Not to mention the Baron; He might be just one of Finn's weak underlings, but he's seriously powerful nonetheless. We have to go about this mission in a stealthy manner"

"Oooh! Just like ninjas?"

"Uh, yeah… Just like ninjas. So here's the plan" said Chief as he began to describe the details of the operation.

* * *

Rose, Chief, Stacey and Rattleballs moved covertly through the streets and alleys, disguised as volunteering citizens. "Okay, Alex. Do your thing" said Chief into a walkie-talkie. "Roger that" replied a fire elemental from the other side of the line, near the wall. He took in a very deep breath and extended his hands aggressively in the direction of a watch tower made of wood. Fire erupted from his hands and ignited the entire watch tower in a matter of seconds. Another horn was heard and guards from all over the kingdom began to move in the direction of the fire as it spread quickly all across the ruined candy wall. The group made it to the gates, but was stopped by two wooden spears from the guards "Hold it! You have no permission to go through this gate!" said one of the guards "We were sent here by the Baron. He said that this act of terror might be a distraction and there might be an infiltration going on. He ordered to back up the castle with troops"

"Then how come I didn't get an order?" asked the guard suspiciously "That's because… You are already stationed in the gates, you dumbass! Now let us in before we inform about your disobedience to the Baron and have you executed!" Said Rose with a threatening manner. Sweating and shaking, the soldiers lifted their spears and let through into the castle "These guys are just as dumb as the banana guards" noted Rattleballs "What do you… You know what? Never mind" said Rose, canceling her question. As they reached downstairs snuck through the surveillance cameras using electromagnetic charge disruptors, they burst the security door and found a chubby guard sitting on the chair in front of the monitors, drinking from a cup of coffee on which was written 'Lady Killer'. The guard spew his coffee out and took a gun from his desk "D-don't move! I won't hesitate t-to shoo-shoot you...!" he stuttered with clear fear in his eyes. "I got this" said Stacey in a delighted manner. She gently approached the guard and took the gun from his shaking hands, placing it back on the desk "Aren't you a big guy? Are these muscles?" she asked with fake impression while squeezing the lumps of fat on his arm "Uh.. Yeah! I've been working out recently!" he said, letting his guard down "Why don't you sit down? Here, how about a juicy apple?" she asked why sitting him down and taking from her satchel a shiny, tasty looking red apple. Knowing what the red fruit meant, both Chief and Rattleballs hurried to get out while dragging Rose with them and slamming the door.

"Whoa, what happened?" asked Rose, confused "Trust me, you DO NOT want to see what happens next" said a pale Chief "Oh, come on, how bad can that be-" Rose's intrigue grew at the moment as she reached the door knob, but both her hand and curiosity died down as she heard the scariest scream of pain and the most horrific screech she never thought a person could make. As Stacey opened the door and skipped cheerfully out of the scene, Rose snuck a peek in, only to find a pile of bones and blood, as well as what seemed like apple pieces. She quickly grabbed Chief and whispered in his ear with panic: "How, or more importantly, WHY did you recruit such a psychotic, carnivorous woman into your group!?"

"Stacey is one of our first members, from the time we were extremely desperate. I saved her life and promised her to eat whatever enemy soldiers or beasts we find. Ever since then she became a resistance member and she is the second one after me to serve the longest in this group"

"Not to mention, one of your best soldiers" she said from behind them, making Rose Jump in fear "Seriously, Stacey. Quit it" said Chief "Well, I'm sorry that she's making it so easy for me" she giggled as she patted her shoulder "Don't worry girl, so long as the chief doesn't give the order, I won't devour you alive" Somehow, that didn't made her feel in the slightest bit easier.

* * *

Passing through many security doors, which Rattleballs unlocked from his memory chip, they eventually reached a dark underground cave, with a single lamp illuminating what Rose considered to be the simplest cage ever, made of a net of thin iron bars. Sleeping in a fetal position was someone who Rose thought looked more like a scientist than a princess; she wore an overly patched lab coat, had a rusty crown on her head with a hole that seemed to host a jewel in it once and had pink skin and hair made of bubblegum "So she's supposed to be the 853 year old queen of the Candy Kingdom? Man, she doesn't look a year past 19!" stated Rose, to which she got a glare from Rattleballs.

Chief approached the cage and began to knock on the iron web, whispering like a dad slowly waking his son to show him his birthday surprise "(Hey..! Princess Bubblegum, come on! Wake up!)" The princess then opened her eyes and slowly sat down "Huh..? Who are you people?" she asked, half awake and rubbing her eyes "We're here to rescue you, princess" replied Rattleballs "Rattleballs… You're alive!" exclaimed Bubblegum in excitement, but the light in her eyes quickly faded "..You should all just go now"

"What? Why are you saying that, princess? We must leave now while we have a chance!" said Chief "Don't call me like that. I've failed my people, my kingdom and even my friends. A failure like me won't be of any help to you. Go now, before the Baron returns…" she said while going back to sleep "You haven't failed your friends! You can still make up for it! You can still save your kingdom" said Rose "What do you know about me?" she said in an angry, yet tired tone "I know about you because my father Jake told me about you" In that moment, all attention was turned towards Rose. Princess Bubblegum whipped her head around with eyes wide open while staring at her and catching a strange glimpse on her eyes "You said your dad was Jake?" asked Chief in an unbelieving tone "Well, technically, he's my adoptive father, though he won't admit it no matter what, but that's beyond the point! He told me just how amazing of a person you were, how smart, brave and cunning and also cool in the face of danger. He said you were so awesome that the Blood King even fell in love with you hard! Prove it to me. Prove it to everyone that you're still that awesome person"

"You know what? You might be right" she said, with a renewed sense of hope, which was then cut shortly as lights burst out of nowhere and illuminated the room. A slow and sarcastic handclap filled the entire cave as a green person in royal plant clothes with a grass sword attached to his hips stood against the wall with a smug look on his face "Wonderful! You almost made me cry there! Unfortunately, you won't get to show anything to anyone since you're all going to **die** " he said with a psychotic smile.

"Who's the fancy bush?" asked Rose with hostility.

"That's the Baron Chloro von Phil" replied Chief as he loaded his machine gun and signaled everyone to take out their weapons. The baron smiled as he detached his sword and licked the green blade with a snake-like tongue.


	3. Chapter 3

The air was tense as the Baron stepped closer. Chief shot the ground before him, making him stop, but instead of flinching he simply smiled "So that's the Baron Chloro-whatever?" asked Rose "Chloro von Phil, a dangerous plant/human hybrid serving as one of the Blood King's henchmen, stationed here to keep the Candy Kingdom under constant watch" said Rattleballs, tightening the grip on his sword "I personally prefer the term 'Green-blood', if you don't mind" replied the Baron "But enough with the talking; you have a princess to rescue and I have years of accumulated bloodlust to discharge on all of you" he ended that sentence with a horrible tone and charged forward, kicking Rattleballs and sending him flying towards the walls with such incredible strength that he got stuck there "Everyone! Disperse!" screamed Chief as he suddenly unsheathed the huge sword from his back, revealing a big red cleaver, which he dropped down with full strength. The hit broke the Baron's sword, but he jumped out of danger "Hey! That was a gift!" He yelled with very real rage on his voice as he then charged at him with inhuman speed and punched him so hard, that Chief too was sent flying, hitting and breaking Princess Bubblegum's cage.

"This is bad! What can I do..?" asked Rose while looking around and assessing the situation; PB was helping a wounded Chief up, Stacey helped a wrecked Rattleballs out of the hole in the wall he dug with his body and The Baron was laughing and shaking like crazy, as if he was about to burst any second now. 'Rose! Use me. Together, we can bring that dude down' Jack's voice echoed in her mind "Yeah, that guy seems a bit too overpowered, don't you think!?" replied Rose with obvious sarcasm as she barely managed to avoid a deadly kick to the face 'Trust me, I can bring this small fry down, we have to get the others out of here!' he said, somehow giving Rose the feeling that he was pointing towards her injured comrades "Ok… I seriously hope that you're right. Everybody! Get out of here!" Yelled Rose at the others while getting into battle stand.

"Are you crazy!?" said Stacey.

"This isn't time for jokes! We can barely hold him off ourselves!" said Chief "But that's exactly it! You CAN'T hold him yourselves! Go now, take the princess and escape! I've got this" she said to him, giving him a look that made him feel like she'll be just fine. After years of experience, Chief learned when and when not to trust his gut. This time, he knew he had to go with this feeling of confidence, for the sake of the mission "Alright then… Be careful" Rose smiled at his sign of trust "Chief! What are you doing!?" asked a shocked Rattleballs "What I have to! Everybody, retreat! It's an order!" he gestured with his arm to the rest of the group, taking Princess Bubblegum with him. Before getting out of the cave, he nodded to Rose to 'Stay alive' Rose nodded back and charged towards the Baron, clashing swords with him while a white aura emitted from her "This is madness…" said Princess Bubblegum as they ran up the stairs "We have no other choice but to trust the girl, though it doesn't mean we will sit with our arms crossed. Can you restore the guardians?" asked Chief, running besides her "I can do more than that".

* * *

Meanwhile, the Baron punched Rose in the gut and sent her flying "Well, aren't you a little hero?" he asked in a mocking tone "How brave and how stupid from you to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your little friends" Rose stood up, the white aura she emitted was getting stronger as the blue gem in her sword shone bright, she charged at him with shocking speed. As their swords clashed, the Baron miscalculated her strength and fell back as she moved forwards to slash his chest "Why, you…!" he said, getting serious. The speed of his attacks increased so drastically, that even with her hyper senses Rose was having a hard time blocking his attacks, getting cut in many places, until the Baron roundhouse-kicked her in the stomach, sending her crashing into the cage and having part of the iron web impaling her leg. Rose groaned as she pulled her leg out and went at him once again, getting quicker by the second "Just what kind of magic are you using!?" he asked, getting desperate as he was now fighting her with his full strength "Nothing you can understand!" she yelled as she punched his chest, pinning him to the wall "It's over" she said, but the baron smiled, as he took a tear gas container out of his pocket and kicked her to the ground while she struggled to see.

"Any last words!?" he asked, almost screaming as he prepared to deal the final blow, only to get hit by a huge, yellow fist "What the!?" he said shocked in the form of a well-known magic dog "Don't you DARE touch my daughter!" he yelled, stretching his huge arm across the cave and grabbing him, pummeling him to near death onto the floor, roof and wall of the cave. "Dad!?" asked Rose, still trying to recover her vision "Rose!" he said as he threw the Baron away and helped her up "Are you okay?" he asked "Yeah, I'm fine… Thanks, dad"

"Don't thank me, it's what I do. Now let's pummel that guy and-" he began to say as he turned over to look at the spot where he threw the Baron, only to discover he ran away "Oh, crap"

"Let's chase him!" said Rose, trying to stand up "No, you're injured! Besides, I haven't been completely honest with you…" he said. Rose's eyes widened up as she realized that he was finally going to tell him about her parents "You're right; I'm not your true father. Your father handed you to me one day before going on a long journey, telling me to keep you safe. But he also made me swear by Glob that in case something happened to him, I should in no way tell you about him or your mother, but I guess it was only a matter of time before you figured it out. I'm sorry, but I have to honor his promise" he said with tears in his eyes, tears that didn't drop from the tear gas. "I… I get it. I won't bother you with that anymore. But I will find out myself one day. Until then, let me tell you that you're my father too" she said while hugging him. Jake was happy that he and his daughter made up, both he was also hurting inside; for he knew that he was only telling her half the truth.

As they got out, Rose and Jake saw how the blood army was fleeting from the huge fists and beams that emitted from the resurrected Gumball Guardians "Woah!" Said Rose in awe of the huge candy robots. The citizens and resistance members worked together in order to vanquish the soldiers away. As the last soldier stepped away from the kingdom, Princess Bubblegum, who watched them from her re-conquered castle yelled "Now!" as she pressed a button on a remote control. From six different corners of the kingdom, six beams of light were shot to the sky and pierced the heavens. As they returned as one beam, that beam split back into six parts and covered the kingdom like an umbrella as an energy force with a hexagon patter shielded it. "The Candy Kingdom is free!" yelled Chief from the balcony of the castle and got followed by many fists lifted high and cries of victory. Chief looked towards Rose and smiled. Princess Bubblegum, on the other hand, looked worried.

* * *

"And then I said to the mermaid: Well, aren't you the salty one?" Said a drunk Chief as he and everyone else were celebrating the liberation of the Candy Kingdom "Now that the Candy Kingdom is liberated, we can move on to liberate the other kingdoms and then strike the three kings with all our might" said an unusually happy voice "Not so fast, candy boy. We must also help the other kingdoms that are still fighting off the enemy, like the Fire Kingdom and the Death Realm" said Stacey "And we will, all thanks to the girl from the prophecy! Three cheers for the one and only: Rose" as everyone lifted their glasses and cheered for Rose, who kept saying that her father also helped, nobody knew that a gun was being pointed at Rose. As Bubblegum prepared to pull the trigger, a big hand slapped the gun from her hands. She turned over to look at a not-so-friendly Jake "What are you doing?" asked Jake "What I have to" she simply said, trying to reach the gun before it got stomped under a huge foot "This is for the sake of everyone, Jake! That girl is too dangerous!"

"That girl is my daughter, and she saved your sorry butt!" exclaimed a now furious Jake, before coughing up blood "She's not your daughter, but _his_ , you should know that better than anyone else"

"So what?" asked Jake, who was having trouble breathing "So what?! She can end up like her father! She's a huge threat to Ooo!" she said "You don't know that! I'll make sure that doesn't happen!"

"And if it does?" asked a skeptic Bubblegum "I… I will… Take her out"

"You will?" asked a now surprised Bubblegum "Yeah… I'm not going to repeat the same mistake. If she becomes evil… I swear the sacred universal promise I'll kill her" He said clenching his fists, on which a strange mark appeared. Bubblegum knew what that mark was; it was the mark of someone who swore a universal promise, a promise which is impossible to break. She was impressed by Jake's resolve, but got worried when he coughed up more blood "You're not going to live long, but I have to make sure you live long enough to keep your promise" she said as she took a syringe with purple liquid in it and injected it to Jake's neck. Jake screamed and held his neck. In a matter of seconds, Jake began to recover his youth; his beard fell off, his wrinkles disappeared and he fell much stronger than he ever felt "What did you inject to me?" he said "It's a secret formula I made in order to keep my youth as the princess of the Candy Kingdom. It expands the life span of every living being. That way you should be able to live long enough so when she becomes evil, you'll kill her before it's too late"

"IF she becomes evil" pointed Jake.

"We'll see about that" Said Princess Bubblegum coldly.

Meanwhile, the injured Baron made his way on horse towards a huge four-legged creature made earth and rocks that carried a green castle on top of it. As he made it to the throne room, he bowed in the presence of a figure with a red cape and long blond hair standing on the balcony and watching at his massive army of beasts and Green-blooded soldiers marching on their way to a fiery horizon "My king" said the Baron, disturbing his train of thoughts. The figure turned to him, sending chills down his spine with his ominous gaze. Finn the Blood King was wearing a crimson red armor that only left his hands and head exposed made of wood. His skin was pale pink and his blond hair was long and messy. His eyes were bloodshot and radiating with rage, while his pupils were blue and cold as ice "How did this happen?" asked Finn, he could tell what happened in the Candy Kingdom just by looking at his beat up body "It was the resistance, sir! They freed the princess and restored the defenses of the kingdom. My soldiers had no chance against their multi front surprise attack. My army was split and I barely escaped alive from there"

"And you want to tell me that Chief and his clowns did this to you?" he asked with an irritated tone "No, sir! They had this girl with them, as well as Jake the Dog" Finn's dead eyes emitted a spark of shock. Sure, Jake's reappearance surprised him, but what intrigued him more was… "How did the girl look like?"

"-She had dark red hair and pale blue skin. She also carried a strange white sword that emitted a powerful aura" Finn clenched his fists with anger, which made the Baron sweat like a pig. He stood up and began to get closer to him "But..! But, don't worry sir! I promise I'll annihilate them both, I will stop at nothing and will be stopped by one until I take the life of that girl!"

"I see, so you're useless to me" replied Finn.

"What?" was all the Baron could say before finding himself staring at his headless body from the ground. The Baron's corpse fell to the ground as The Blood King proceeded to clean his blade after it morphed back into his right hand. "So you've finally come out of your little tree house, huh Jake? And you brought my daughter with you. I wish we could all have a nice family meeting, but I guess that will have to wait" said Finn smiling as he looked at the blazing chain of mountains which marked the borderlands of the Fire Kingdom "There is an old friend I must talk to first"


	4. Chapter 4

To both armies facing each other, it felt as if the world was standing still, holding its breath in front of the battle that was about to unfold.

It was all but silent in the borderlands that were soon to turn into a bloody battlefield. The whistling wind passed between the blood soldiers and the Blood King, toying with his pale blond hair as he focused his eyes on the enemy army; around fifty-thousand fire elementals stood on the borderlines with all kinds of weapons in their arms. On the mountains stood a hundred Flame Archers and Wizards, all aiming at his face and there was even a large pack of Alpha Flame Wolves with Beast Masters riding on their backs, courtesy of Cinnamon Bun's school to training flame beasts. Finn couldn't help but smile at the scenery.

"Attack"

A blood soldier riding on top of an undead stallion raised his sword up and yelled from the top of his lungs and he charged forwards at insane speed "For the Blood King!"

"For the queen!" yelled a fire elemental and both armies charged at each other. The caged monstrosities were released, the rangers threw spells and fire arrows at the battlefield and a bunch of flying plant monsters emerged from spores hanging from the blood titan carrying the castle. Water came out from a blood soldier's greatsword and covered it as he split a fire soldier in half, only to be incinerated by a fireball dropping from the sky. A blood assassin was leaping throughout the battlefield, slicing enemies left and right with his leaf scimitars and then bending backwards mid-air to evade the huge fire axe that was coming directly at him. Landing on the ground and looking behind him, he turned to face a flame berserker charging at him with brutal strength. The fire rangers were attacked by the swarm of flying plant monsters, some of them were devoured and some of them were snatched in their claws, taken high in the air and then dropped in the battlefield. Some of them de-materialized and escaped while some fought and killed the monsters, but they could no longer support their friends at the bottom of the mountains.

"As expected of the kingdom with the most brutal and savage race of hot-headed soldiers" said Finn as the vine balcony from which he was staring retreated into the floor and he stepped forward, grabbing his cape and throwing it into the air "Maybe I should join the fun?" As he placed his heel on the wall of the castle, Finn fell forward and then pressed his foot against the wall, crushing it and launching himself forwards at incredible speed. Seeing the cape in the air, the soldiers all turned to look at their king and tried to escape towards the sides of his range. Like a jet ski moving through the water and pushing it aside and into the air, the Blood King sent hundreds of enemy soldiers and unfortunate blood soldiers who didn't make it out of his way in time into the air, leaving a massive trail of corpses behind him. As he rolled on the ground and hit it with his fist, the entire battlefield became a field of huge cactus spikes which emerged from the ground and impaled the remaining resistance. The king stood up and looked at the castle surrounded by guards "Should we charge in, sir?" asked him one of his generals "no need, I'll take care of this myself. Chase down the escaping forces. We don't need yet another rebel group on our hands" he said as he began to slowly make his way towards the castle, walking casually as if he had all the time in the world.

* * *

In the flame palace, the royal family was panicking "We're dead!" yelled Torcho

"Oh Glob, please have mercy on our souls!" prayed Agnes as lava tears fell from her eyes "We're all DOOMED!" yelled Randy, running in circles with his hands up "QUIET!" roared the Flame Queen as she shot a fireball at the ceiling, silencing everyone down. "We'll be fine, I'll distract him while you guys escape from the secret tunnel" she said as she pressed a rock on the fire throne, making it slide sideways and reveal a dark hole in the castle wall with a staircase leading underground "But what about you, sis?" asked her Randy as he clung to her "We can't leave you behind, my queen" protested Agnes "Please, just call me Phoebe, and you all come from an evil race of fire elementals, don't you? Leaving a family member behind shouldn't be a problem for you guys" she said with a smile as she kneeled and petted Randy on the head. Her smile began to fade slowly as she watched her family run away into the tunnel which was lightened by their natural glow.

"Now it's your tu-" she began to say to Cinnamon Bun, but was stopped by a fire slash which demolished the tunnel "Why did you do that!?" she asked him "To make sure Finn wouldn't reach them, as well as making sure they wouldn't come back"

"But what about you!"

"It should be of no surprise to you that I'll follow you whenever you go" he said putting a hand on her shoulder "… You stupid knight" she said with a smile. However the warm feeling in the air was cut short by a sarcastic slow clap of hands "Man, aren't you guys just sickeningly adorable!" said Finn as he walked into the room. Cinnamon Bun assumed a fighting stance in a matter of milliseconds, without even thinking about it. His legs were shaking, his palms sweating cream, and for the first time since he got to the Fire Kingdom, he felt shivers. It was as if his instincts were screaming in the back of his mind and telling him that the man in front of him stood worlds above him. "Blood King" hissed Flame Queen at the sight of the man in the red wooden armor.

"That's what they call me these days" said Finn as he walked in her direction, but was stopped by the blazing sword of Sir Cinnamon Bun "CB! Man, it's been so long!" exclaimed the Blood King in a false manner of surprise, to which Cinnamon Bun did not respond "What do you want from me?" asked him Flame Queen, to who's comment he replied with a snort.

"From you? Nothing. From the kingdom however…" he said as large vines erupted from his wrist and pressed Cinnamon Bun against the wall, breaking it "Cinnamon Bun!" yelled Flame Queen "Where's the Fire Monolith?" asked Finn as his tone turned serious "I… Have no idea what you're talking about" said Flame Queen.

"…Wow. You're a horrible liar" said Finn in realization as the vines squeezed Cinnamon Bun even tighter. CB yelled in pain. "Stop it!" said Flame Queen as she was about to burn him alive "Ah, ah, AH!" said the Blood King with a sadistic look on his face, shaking his finger "Remember that this guy is basically living candy- The slightest movement from you and I'll feed you Cinnamon crumbs. Now I'm gonna ask for the last time: "Where's the fire gem?"

CB looked through his pockets and felt in his hands two objects he recognized as his wolf whistle and a bag with lightning pills inside it. Finn's plant limbs might be highly resistance to fire, but lightning's heat is ten times that of fire. This plan, however, is sure to cost him his life. Even someone like Cinnamon Bun is afraid of dying, he had so much to live for, so many things he wished to do..

…No. This wasn't time for hesitation. Before the queen had time to answer, Cinnamon Bun smashed the bag against the roots, which gave a huge electrical shock to Finn's body and set his arm and armor on fire. The Blood King screamed in pain as he was being engulfed in flames. Cinnamon Bun whistled as hard as he could into his wolf whistle, summoning his pet, Jake2 the Fire Wolf. He quickly mounted Flame Queen on the mighty beast and bound her to its back with his shoulder strap "What are you doing!?" asked him Flame Queen, although she could already see where this was going "I just wanted to show you a new trick I taught this little guy" replied CB with a sad smile "Jake2…Combust".

"No!" yelled Flame Queen, trying to grab him. Suddenly, sparks began to emerge from Jake2's body. The Fire Wolf let out a howl that could be heard across the mountains as it bent and shot out at an insane speed, like a meteorite across and out of the kingdom's borders, carrying the crying Flame Queen on her back.

"…You know it will take me a couple of seconds to reach them, right?" said behind him the voice of the Blood King, who turned off the flames using his blood. CB would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised, but he knew Finn and how tough and stubborn he can be, not to mention the frightening rumors he heard about him. When he looked at how his hair grew back in a matter of seconds and how his fleshy wounds were being stitched by vines which morphed into skin, he realized how much those rumors were true. "Doesn't matter. When Jake2 comes in contact with grass, it can triple his speed. Fast enough to reach the Candy Kingdom, which according to my spies, is now a liberated city" Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing, but then again, he was the one who eventually came to be known as the cunning general of the fire army. Even he admitted that Cinnamon Bun was smarter than him, something that pissed him even more than having spies in his army.

Enraged, a leaf sword grew from Finn's palm as he ran into him and stabbed him in the chest. CB' eyes grew wide open as he stared at the wound in his chest. The Blood King turned the sword in his chest like a key. Cinnamon Bun could feel the grass blade turning into vines inside his body and expanding throughout his sugar veins. Spikes began to emerge across Cinnamon's body, making cracks in his figure. He looked up to stare at Finn's face as his was being filled with cracks and crumbling, giving him a pure smile before crumbling into dust, which then burned to nothing after his death dispersed the fire immunity spell from his corpse.

"… Why did you smile at me? I killed you… So why did you smile at me like we were friends..?" Finn clenched his fist and began to destroy things around him in a mixture of confusion, anger and mostly sadness.

* * *

Back at the Candy Kingdom, Rose was rolling around in her bed. As she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the ground in what would seem like a jungle. "What the…" she said, or rather thought, as she stood up "Dad? Jack? Chief? Heck, even Stacey would do, just someone please answer me!" no response came. She climbed up a high tree to get a better view of her surroundings. As she climbed up, she could see that the jungle spread in all ways beyond the horizon and above it laid a sky with countless star and galaxies "Weird…". Despite never being in that place, Rose felt pretty natural in it. It felt like home to her. She swung from the vines, jumped from branch to branch and swam through the rivers. She eventually reached a temple of sorts. As she entered it, she walked through a hall filled on both sides with statues of women with tribal outfits and tattoos, holding spears, bows and swords. As she reached the last one, she stopped and took a good look at her. She looked just like her, except for the weird hairdo and her amazon-warrior-like style.

Rose eventually reached a garden filled with flowers. She felt a weird De JA vu as she moved across the tall garden and the strawberry and raspberry bushes. At the end of the garden was a tall door made of solid Rock with a weird inscription on it that was partially covered with vines and leaves. "Huh" she said as she walked towards the door, but as her hand was about to reach it, a familiar white sword hit it and made her retract her arm. As the sword was pulled out, she watched it float back to the hands of Jack, whose blue eyes were staring at her with a cold expression.

"Jack?"

"You shouldn't have come here Rose. Back off from the door" commanded Jack with a serious voice that echoed across the garden "Why? What's inside the door? And where are we anyway!?" Rose demanded to know "We're in the depths of your consciousness. You're asleep. Now step away from that door and get out of this place"

"What's in there you don't want me to see?"

"Enough with the questions, now get away from that door" said Jack, losing his patience "Only if you tell me what's in it" insisted Rose "I… Can't do that" Rose frowned and reached towards the door once again, but Jack attacked her. Rose pulled out another white sword from thin air and countered his attack, wounding his arm. Jack backed away with a shocked look in his eyes "This is MY consciousness after all" she said, swinging the sword around. A strand of blond hair fell in front of Jack's face. He blew it away and charged once again as his arm was now fully healed. Rose prepared a powerful blow, but he disappeared in front of her and appeared behind her, sending her flying with a roundhouse-kick to the stomach. As she barely landed on her feet, Jack hit the ground with his sword. What Rose thought was a green wave which then turned out to be an erupting jungle blew her away. Inside the Jungle, Rose was constantly hit by the moving trees and plants. As the jungle wave stopped, she was lying on the ground all beaten up and looking at Jack who stood above her with his sword pointing at her chest "Massive power amounts to nothing if you don't know how to control it" he lectured her as he quickly dropped his sword.

Rose woke up and found herself falling off the bed, her sword falling next to her "Ugh, you idiot!" she said, grabbing Jack and throwing him into a wall, fixing him there as she went to make herself some coffee. What was that place? Why did it look so familiar? And why did Jack try so hard to prevent her from entering that door? Normally one would get stressed from all the constantly rising questions, but Rose just got more and more pumped from the scent of adventure.


End file.
